1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for gathering, organizing, and delivering personal information over the Internet. More specifically, the present invention provides for a system for electronic retrieval, storage, management, and authorized distribution of personal and confidential, information that is verified as being accurate.
2. Relevant Art
The Internet is a powerful publication and information tool. When a web site operator posts information on a web site, he in effect publishes that information throughout the world instantaneously. Using search engines and location tools, other Internet users can search out posted information quickly and inexpensively. Much of the information shared on the Internet is in the public domain. However, information that is private, sensitive, or confidential is also easily distributed, published, and eventually discovered by others on the Internet. Often this information is published on the Internet without the consent of or concern for the individuals about whom the information is published. Concerns over privacy have led to current national and international discussions about how personal information distributed over the Internet can encroach upon an individual's privacy. Not surprisingly, in an effort to stave off governmental regulation of the Internet, the Internet industry itself has attempted to establish standards for self-regulation with regard to privacy issues.
In addition to the privacy concerns raised by the Internet, because publishing information on the Internet is so easy, the ease and breadth of Internet publication raises concerns about the reliability of information published on the web. The sheer amount of information available on the Internet leaves much of that information suspect as to its accuracy. Documents that otherwise would get very limited circulation, if any, are published globally on the Internet. Similarly, documents and data that are outdated and would have been discarded so as to not waste space remain accessible for years on the Internet. In some cases it is difficult to tell whether information on the Internet is days old or years old. Because there is relatively little cost in maintaining electronic documents and because there is virtually limitless space in which to store things, out-of-date records can remain available for viewing indefinitely. In some instances it is difficult to discern whether the source of Internet published information is a reliable source. Thousands of new websites are created every day. Moreover, many web sites are vulnerable to being modified (hacked into) without the publisher's consent. It is possible for information offered on an insecure web site by a reputable Internet publisher to be altered.
The interactive nature of the Internet makes it risky to store, manage, and transfer personal and/or confidential information on the Internet. As information and data travel along the Internet, multiple copies of the information are made, such as in cache files. These copies may not be secure. Furthermore, much of the private and personal information about individuals posted on the Internet is done so without the knowledge of those individuals. Information such as names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, contact information for relatives and friends, and even financial account numbers have been placed on unsecured databases, available to the public over the Internet. Attention has recently been drawn to criminals who use personal information obtained on the Internet to defraud, harass, and stalk other people.
Given these difficulties, it would, therefore, be advantageous to provide a method for delivering personal information over the Internet that gathers, stores, manages, and transfers personal and/or confidential information. It would also be an advantage to provide a system that published and distributes such information only with the authorization of a person who is the subject of the information. It would be an additional advantage to provide verified information, preferably having the information verified by the person. It would also be advantageous to provide a secure database that prevents unauthorized access to secure personal information, but allows access to authorized users. It would further be an advantage to create a database of personal information about individuals presently available to the public over the Internet. When a database user searches for or obtains information regarding a particular individual, it would also be beneficial to notify the individual that information regarding him or her is being sought.